Dragline toy



June 30, 1970 'r. E. MILLER 3,517,948

DRAGLINE TOY File d Aug. 2. 1968 B'Sheets-Sheet l I NVENTOR. fHdA/AS .6 MM 15/? ATfOP/VZVS T- E. MILLER DRAGLINE TOY June 30, 1970 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 2, 1968 INVENTOR. fHfl/WS E. M/LLEE United States Patent 3,517,948 DRAGLINE TOY Thomas E. Miller, Watson Township, Allegan County, Mich. (1466 120th Ave., RR. 2, Hopkins, Mich. 49328) Filed Aug. 2, 1968, Ser. No. 749,730 Int. Cl. A01b 1/04 US. Cl. 29455 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A dragline toy comprising a scoop which is suspended from a beam by a plurality of elongated flexible elements.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to a scooping toy construction and, more particularly, relates to a dragline type of scooping bucket which children may use while playing in sand.

Description of the prior art Children enjoy playing in sand and building make-believe roads, hills, castles, etc. Various toys are used to aid in such constructions. For example, small shovels and pails are commonly used by children for moving sand from one location to another. The childrens enjoyment and creativity are increased substantially if they can pretend they are construction engineers operating large dragline excavating equipment. Most of the previous toys for playing in sand do not resemble dragline equipment and those that do are so complex in structure and operation that they are expensive. Further they can be operated only very slowly and in a relatively set way whereby the childs opportunity of creative play is minimized. Moreover, much time may be spent and much frustration may be encountered in learning to operate complex dragline toys. Children prefer to see their sand constructions de- 'velop rapidly and previous dragline toys have not had this facility for rapid construction. Thus, there exists a need for a dragline toy which is simple in construction and operation and yet one which is capable of moving a substantial amount of sand and which is capable of being used in a creative manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an improved dragline scooping or excavating bucket for handling sand. The toy can be held in the childs hand and can be manipulated to scoop up sand from one location and carry the sand to another location where it can be easily dumped from the scoop by a simple movement of the wrist. The operation of the toy simulates the action of a large construction crane or dragline type of excavating equipment It is an object of the present invention to provide an excavating toy of simple construction having a scoop for transporting sand, which scoop may be quickly filled and emptied by simple movements of the users wrist.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an excavating toy which is capable of simulating the 3,517,948 Patented June 30, 1970 FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the dragline toy embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the dragline toy.

FIG. 3 is a front end view of the dragline toy.,

FIG. 4a is a side view of the dragline toy in the process of entering a pile of sand.

FIG. 4b is a view similar to FIG. 4a and showing the dragline toy as it is dragged through the sand in order to fillthe bucket with stand.

FIG. 40 is a view similar to FIG. 4a and showing the dragline toy in the position for carrying the sand from one location to another.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The dragline toy 10 of the present invention is com: prised of a scoop 11 suspended from an elongated rigid beam or handle 12 by a plurality of elongated flexible elements 13, 14, 15 and 16. The scoop 11 is generally rectangular in plan view and is generally channel-shaped in transverse cross-section. The scoop has a bottom wall 21, a pair of parallel sidewalls 22 and 23 and one end wall 24. The scoop 11 is thus open at the top and at one end. The bottom wall 21 adjacent the open end may be provided with a plurality of notches which define teeth 25 to assist in digging into the sand when the scoop is being filled.

The beam 12 for supporting the scoop 11 includes a first portion 26 from which the scoop 11 is suspended and a second portion 27 at one end thereof which serves as a handle or means by which the child may grasp and manipulate the toy. The first portion 26 has a fastening means 28, such as a screw or eyebolt, secured to one end thereof. The scoop 11 has corresponding fastening means 33 and 34 secured to the end wall 24, respectively, near the-juncture thereof with the sidewalls 22 and 23. The flexible elements 13 and 14 are each secured at one end thereof to the fastening means 28 and are secured at their opposite ends to the fastening means 33 and 34, respectively. The portion 26 of beam 12 also has a pair of fastening means 29 and 30 secured on opposite lateral sides thereof at points spaced equal distances from fastening means 28. The scoop 11 has a pair of fastening means 36 and 37, which are secured to the sidewalls 22 and 23, respectively, near the front or open end thereof. The

flexible elements 15 and 16 are secured at one end thereof to the fastening means 29 and 30, respectively, and they are secured at their other ends to the fastening means 36 and 37 on sidewalls 22 and 23, respectively. Preferably the, fastening means 28 and 29, 30 are spaced apart a distance greater than the distance between fastening means 32, 33 and 36, 37.

The flexible elements 13, 14, 15 and 16 are each of substantially the same length and may be constructed of any flexible, preferably nonextensible, material, such as, for example, cord, wire or light gauge chain. The scoop 11 is preferably made of sheet metal and the beam 12 is preferably made of wood. However, these parts may be formed from suitable plastic or metal castings, if desired.

The width of scoop 11 is substantially greater than the width of the beam 12. The flexible elements 13, 14, 15 and 16 are of substantially the same length so that when the beam 12 is horizontal and the scoop 11 is stationarily suspended therebelow, said scoop is substantially centered between the fastening means 29 and 30, on the one hand, and the fastening means 28, on the other hand. Similarly the beam 12 is substantially centered between the sidewalls 22 and 23 of the scoop. The length of the scoop is less than the distance between the fasten-- ing means 29 and 30 and the fastening means 28. Thus, the pairs of flexible elements 13, 15 and 14, 16 respectively converge toward each other in a direction toward the scoop 11 and the pairs of flexible elements 13, 14 and 15, 16 respectively diverge away from each other in a direction toward said scoop. This disposition of the parts has been found to provide an arrangement in which the scoop can be relatively easily manipulated, but in which undesired oscillations or swinging of the scoop relative to the beam in both lengthwise directions and transverse directions are effectively minimized.

The handle portion 27 is elongated and extends lengthwise away from the scoop. The length of the handle portion 27 is preferably at least substantially equal to at least about one-half the length of the mounting portion 26. Thus, the scoop is supported on the mounting portion of the beam and it can be easily manipulated by wrist movements of a user who is grasping the handle portion 27.

OPERATION Although the operation of the dragline toy embody,- ing the invention will be apparent from the foregoing description, a summary thereof will be set forth to insure a complete understanding of the invention.

A child grasping the handle portion 27 in one hand can dig sand by inclining the beam 12 so that the handle portion 27 is below the mounting portion 26. This causes the scoop to be inclined as shown in FIG. 4a so that it can dig into the sand. The beam is then moved to a generally horizontal position and the child then pulls the beam 12 forwardly thereby causing the scoop 11 to move through the loose sand and become filled as shown in FIG. 4b. During the pulling of the scoop through the sand, the rear pair of flexible elements 13, 14 will become slack due to the resistance offered by the sand. However, the front pair of elements 15, 16 are maintained taut so that the pulling force is transmitted to the scoop. When the scoop is filled and the child desires to place its contents elsewhere, the child then lifts the beam 12 and ordinarily moves same to a slightly inclined position in which the handle portion 27 is elevated with respect to the mounting portion 26 (FIG. 4c). In this position, the sand will remain in the scoop so that it can be transported easily. After the toy has been moved to the location where the child wishes to deposit the sand, the child pivots the rear end of the beam 12 upwardly to a position similar to that shown in FIG. 4a, but in which the beam is inclined at a greater angle to the horizontal, thereby rapidly dumping the contents of the scoop. As the rear end of beam 12 is moved upwardly, the flexible elements and 16 permit the front end of the scoop 11 to move toward the beam 12 while the flexible elements 13 and 14 cause the rear end of scoop 11 to remain fixed with respect to beam 12 thereby causing the forward end of the scoop 11 to drop downwardly with respect to the rear end of the scoop 11 and permitting the sand to pass out the open end of the scoop 11.

Although a particular preferred embodiment of my invention has been disclosed above for illustrative purposes, it will be understood that variations or modifications thereof which lie within the scope of the appended claims are fully contemplated.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive propery or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A dragline toy for moving loose sand from a first location to a second location, comprising:

an elongated beam including a handle portion and a load support portion;

4 a scoop including a front portion and rear portion; first and second elongated flexible support means, said first flexible support means extending from a first point on the load support portion of said beam to a point on the front portion of said scoop, said second flexible support means extending from a second point on the load support portion of said beam to a point on the rear portion of said scoop, said first and second points on said load support portion being spaced at least as far apart as said points on the front and rear portions of said scoop;

whereby said dragline toy may be grasped by the handle portion and moved forwardly with said first flexible support means urging the front portion of said scoop into the loose sand thereby loading said scoop, then the handle portion and the load support portion of the beam may be moved to vertically upwardly thereby permitting transportation of the sand from said first location to said second location and then the beam may be pivoted whereby the rear end of the scoop is moved upwardly with respect to the front end of the scoop means to thereby dump the load.

2. A dragline toy as defined in claim 1, wherein said scoop comprises a substantially flat bottom wall having forwardly extending teeth in the front edge thereof, a pair of sidewalls extending from opposite edges of said bottom wall and a rear wall extending between said sidewalls at the rear edge of said bottom wall.

3. A dragline toy as defined in claim 2', wherein said first elongated flexible support means comprises a pair of flexible elements which are secured at corresponding one ends thereof to said beam and are secured at the other corresponding ends thereof to said scoop means near the forward edges of said sidewalls and wherein said second elongated flexible support means comprises a pair of flexible elements which are secured at corresponding one ends thereof to said beam and are secured at the other corresponding ends thereof to said scoop means near the juncture of the rear edges of said sidewalls and said rear wall, said attachment of the first pair of flexible elements to said beam being spaced from the attachment of said second pair of flexible elements to said beam at a distance greater than the length of said scoop.

4. A dragline toy according to claim 3, in which said flexible elements are of substantially equal lengths and said beam is of lesser width than said scoop whereby the beam is substantially centered between the sidewalls of said scoop and said scoop is substantially centered between the points of attachment of said elements to said beam, the flexible elements on the respective sides of said scoop converging in a direction toward the scoop and the flexible elements of each pair diverging in a direction toward the beam, said beam being a rigid member and said handle portion thereof being elongated and straight so that a user can easily grasp said handle portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,120,444 6/1938 Smith 37-71 EVON C. BLUNK, Primary Examiner A. N. GOODMAN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

